The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced on Friday that, earlier in the day, they struck and eliminated terrorist Mohammed Hassan Mohammed Awad, a senior commander in the Military Intelligence Array in the Gaza Strip, affiliated with senior commanders of the Palestinian Mujahideen terrorist organization. On October 7th, Mohammed Awad infiltrated the Israeli community of Nir Oz several times. He was one of the leaders of the massacre, and was likely personally involved in the abductions and brutal murders of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas. He was also involved in the abduction and burial of Gad and Judi Lynn Weinstein. Moreover, he took part in the abductions of Thai citizens, the statement said. “As part of his role in the terrorist organization, Mohammad Awad was actively involved until his death in recruiting terror operatives in Judea and Samaria and within Israel, through whom he used to plan and carry out attacks against Israelis,” it added. “During the war, the Palestinian Mujahideen terrorist organization and Mohammed Awad in particular were involved in the execution of terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip,” the statement said. “The IDF and ISA will continue to operate to locate and eliminate all of the terrorists from different terrorist organizations who took part in the murderous October 7th massacre,” concluded the IDF and Shin Bet. The Bibas family - Yarden Bibas, his wife Shiri Bibas, and their two young sons, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months old - were kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. Related articles: Helicopter shoots down UAV en route to Israel 'He has a name, bring him home' Messages that prove Iran's support for 10.7 Massacre Hamas video appears on basketball league website Yarden was captured separately from his wife and children after reportedly leaving their safe room to confront the terrorists in an attempt to protect his family. Video footage circulated online showed Yarden, bloodied and injured, being taken away on a motorcycle, while separate images captured Shiri, visibly terrified, clutching her redheaded sons as terrorists surrounded them. Yarden was eventually freed on February 1 as part of a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas, after 484 days in captivity. The bodies of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were returned to Israel later that month. Forensic examinations confirmed their deaths, with Israel stating they were murdered by their captors, despite Hamas’s claims that they died in an IDF airstrike. (Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)
